Seal



Oct. 7, 1952 w, BRQOKS I 2,613,095

SEAL

Filed Dec. 19, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

.WINFRED M. BROOKS- HIS ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 7, 1952 Application December 19, 1950, Serial No. 201,662

1 Claim. I

The present invention relates to sheet material seals such as are used, for instance, for sealing bags containing seed, or as poultry seals, to guarantee the standard of the product sealed. One type of seal used for the above purpose consists of two main sections that are movable toward one another on a bending lin located where they are connected together, said main sections having means at their free ends that interengage in closing the seal. Sometimes it is found, upon inspection, that the product which has been sealed is not up to the required standard, and it has been the custom, heretofore, to disengage the means at the free ends of the main sections to open the seal, and to remove it from the product previously sealed. Of course,

all seals of this character can be opened and, a

on being opened, are either destroyed or reveal the fact that the seal has been tampered with, but the interengaging means at the free ends of the main sections are purposely constructed to render opening of the seal difiicult and to make it a time-consuming operation to the one who attempts to tamper with the seal. When, however, it is desired to remove the seal after sealing the product, in cases where the standard of the product has been found to be below that which is required, it will be understood that a time-consuming process in the opening of the seal is disadvantageous because sometimes a great quantity of products has to b unsealed.

The main object of this invention is a seal so constructed as to render rupture thereof quick and easy without initially trying to untangle the locking means at the free ends of the sections.

In the accompanying drawings- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the blank from which the seal is formed; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the blank shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the blank bent up preparatory to its use in the sealing operation;

Fig. 4 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the seal in its closed position with the nose of the pliers indicated in dotted lines;

Fig. 6 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 6 of Fig. 5 without indication of the pliers; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the insertion of the nose of a normally closed pair of pliers in the rupture-opening of the seal with the pliers expanded and the seal ruptured.

l0 and II indicate the two main sections that are movable toward one another on bending line l2 located where the sections are connected together. The locking means here employed to interengage, when closing th seal, consist of a tongue [3 inwardly bent over main section II and having an opening 14 for the reception of a prong 15 carried by main section I0, said prong having a spur [6. Main section II has inner and outer surfaces curved, at least in part, for the purpose of deflecting the end of prong [5 when it enters slot I4 in closing the seal, to thereby cause spur It to engage end I! of tongue l3 so as to prevent retraction of the parts (see Fig. 5). Main section l0, however, is a substantially fiat member, as required by commercial conditions, to facilitate the closing of the seal and to make the seal as compact as possible.

I8 indicates a rupture-opening, in said main sections, that spans bending line l2 intermediate the ends thereof, said opening tapering at 0pposite ends as indicated at l9 and 20 in a direction at right angles to bending line I2. I9 indicates a hood formed by outwardly raising a portion of the material of flat main section II) so that, when the seal is closed, a tool may be readily inserted in said opening for the purpose of rupturing the seal along bending line l2.

In Figs. 5 and '7 is shown the method of inserting nose 2| of a reverse plier 22, i. e. a pair of pliers that are normally held in closed position by means are spring such as 23. After the nose of the pliers has been inserted in opening 18, the handles of the pliers are squeezed together against the opposition of spring 23, thereby separating the members of noseZl and rupturing the seal along bending line l2. Thereafter, it is, of course, easy to separate prong [5 from engagement with tongue l3.

It is important that ends [9 and 20 of ruptureopening l8 taper in a direction at right angles to the direction of bending lin l2 so as to enable the members of the nose of the pliers, when they are expanded, to get adequate purchase and to keep the pliers from slipping in opening l8, thereby avoiding the possibility of fracturing the material only at one side of rupture-opening 18.

Th feature of providing a combined finger guard and auxiliary deflecting surface X shown in the several forms of the invention, and indicated by way of example in Figs. 1, 3 and 5- whereby prong l5, if outwardly misdirected, will be deflected by said combined finger guard and deflecting surface so that prong I5 will enter through opening M of tongue l3--is not claimed in the present application but forms the subject 3 matter of a prior application, ser. No. 117,219, filed September 22, 1949.

I claim:

In a seal of sheet material comprising two connected main sections movable toward one another on a bending line located where they are connected together, and having means adjacent their free ends to interengage when closing the seal, one of said main sections having inner and outer curved surfaces, and the other of said main sections having substantially flat inner and outer surfaces, said main sections being provided with a rupture-opening that spans said bending line intermediate the ends of the latter, said opening tapering at opposite ends in a direction at right angles to said bending line, a portion of the material of the substantially fiat main section being outwardly raised to form a hood adjacent one end of said ruptureopening (to admit the insertion of a tool for the purpose of rupturing the seal) on the bending line.

WINFRED M. BROOKS. No references cited. 

